福尔摩斯探案经典:《恐怖谷》第7章Part10

"It was at that instant that the idea came to me. I was fairly dazzled by the brilliance of it. The man's sleeve had slipped up and there was the branded mark of the lodge upon his forearm. See here!"
The man whom we had known as Douglas turned up his own coat and cuff to show a brown triangle within a circle exactly like that which we had seen upon the dead man.
"It was the sight of that which started me on it. I seemed to see it all clear at a glance. There were his height and hair and figure, about the same as my own. No one could swear to his face, poor devil! I brought down this suit of clothes, and in a quarter of an hour Barker and I had put my dressing gown on him and he lay as you found him. We tied all his things into a bundle, and I weighted them with the only weight I could find and put them through the window. The card he had meant to lay upon my body was lying beside his own.
"My rings were put on his finger; but when it came to the wedding ring," he held out his muscular hand, "you can see for yourselves that I had struck the limit. I have not moved it since the day I was married, and it would have taken a file to get it off. I don't know, anyhow, that I should have cared to part with it; but if I had wanted to I couldn't. So we just had to leave that detail to take care of itself. On the other hand, I brought a bit of plaster down and put it where I am wearing one myself at this instant. You slipped up there, Mr. Holmes, clever as you are; for if you had chanced to take off that plaster you would have found no cut underneath it.
"Well, that was the situation. If I could lie low for a while and then get away where I could be joined by my 'widow' we should have a chance at last of living in peace for the rest of our lives. These devils would give me no rest so long as I was above ground; but if they saw in the papers that Baldwin had got his man, there would be an end of all my troubles. I hadn't much time to make it all clear to Barker and to my wife; but they understood enough to be able to help me. I knew all about this hiding place, so did Ames; but it never entered his head to connect it with the matter. I retired into it, and it was up to Barker to do the rest.
"I guess you can fill in for yourselves what he did. He opened the window and made the mark on the sill to give an idea of how the murderer escaped. It was a tall order, that; but as the bridge was up there was no other way. Then, when everything was fixed, he rang the bell for all he was worth. What happened afterward you know. And so, gentlemen, you can do what you please; but I've told you the truth and the whole truth, so help me God! What I ask you now is how do I stand by the English law?"

“这时我不由想起了一个主意，我简直为这主意的高明而感到飘飘然了。因为这个人的袖子卷着，他的臂膀上露出一个会党的标记。请瞧瞧这里。”
道格拉斯卷其他自己的衣袖，让我们看一个烙印——褐色圆圈里面套个三角形，正象我们在死者身上看到的一模一样。
“就是一见这标记才使我灵机一动，我似乎转眼就明白了一切。他的身材、头发、体形都和我自己一模一样。再没有人能认出他的面目了，可怜的恶魔！我把他这身衣服扒下来，我和巴克只用了一刻钟就把我的睡衣给死者穿好，而死者就象你们看到的那样躺在地上。我们把他的所有东西打成一个包袱，用当时仅能找到的重物使它加重，然后把它从窗户扔出去。他本来打算放在我尸体上的卡片，被我放在他自己的尸体旁边。
“我又把我的几个戒指也戴到他的手指上，不过至于结婚戒指，"道格拉斯伸出他那只肌肉发达的手来，说道，“你们自己可以看到我戴得紧极了。从我结婚时期，我就没有动过它，要想取下它除非用锉刀才行。总之我不知道当时是否想到把它锉下来，即使当时想这么做也是办不到的。所以只好让这件小事由它去了。另一方面，我拿来一小块橡皮膏贴在死者脸上，那时我自己在那个位置正贴着一块，福尔摩斯先生，这地方你却疏忽了。象你这样聪明的人，如果你当时碰巧揭开这块橡皮膏，你就会发现下面没有伤痕。
“好，这就是那时的情况。假如我能够躲藏一阵子，然后再和我的'姘妇'妻子一同离开这里，我们自然有机会在余生中过平安生活了。只要我活在世上，这些恶魔们当然不会让我安宁；可是如果他们在报上看到鲍德温暗杀得手的消息，那么，我的一切麻烦也就结束了。我没有时间对巴克和我的妻子说明白，不过他们很是心领神会，完全能帮助我。我很清楚别墅中的藏身之处，艾姆斯也知道，可是他万万想不到这个藏身之地会和这件事发生关系。我藏进那个密室里，其余的事就由巴克去做了。
“我想你们自己已能补充说明巴克所做的事。他打开窗户，把鞋印留在窗台上，造成凶手越窗逃跑的假象。这当然是困难的事，可是吊桥已经拉起，没有别的道路逃走了。等一切都安排就绪以后，他才拚命拉起铃来。以后发生的事，你们都知道了。就这样，先生们，你们要怎样办就怎样办吧。可是我已经把真情告诉你们了。千真万确，